A northern Chinese village has announced it will spend 30 million yuan ($4.5 million) to recruit 100 character performers — known in China as NPCs, or non-playable characters — to interact with tourists. Successful hires will receive a range of salaries, with the highest reportedly reaching 10 million yuan a year.

Situ Town, a scenic spot located in Situ Village in the northern Shanxi province, will finance the recruitment partly through its publicity budget and partly from startup funds, Zhou Xiaoming, the village Party secretary, told Shanghai-based media outlet The Paper on Sunday. 

Once a coal town, Situ Village’s coal was gradually depleted by the end of the 20th century. To address its lack of resources, in 2009, the village built an agricultural ecological park — an area that combines farming with ecological protection and tourism — on a slag heap, which later grew into a highly rated national attraction. The village is known for its “iron flower” performances — a folk art in which local blacksmiths hurl molten iron into the air.

Zhou announced the NPC recruitment on Sept. 19 in a video posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. “No matter what your talent is, as long as you can make the tourists on stage have fun, and the audience below enjoy themselves, we’ll give you a platform — and 1 million, even 10 million (yuan),” he said in the video.

The plan quickly drew suspicion online, with some arguing that the money would be better spent investing in the scenic area itself, such as by adding amusement parks, building affordable guesthouses, improving green spaces, upgrading the “iron flower” show, or supporting local artists.

Previously, the scenic spot had announced a short video contest — also led by Zhou — in August in which 5 million yuan was offered to participants based on likes and views. Winning the top prize of 1 million yuan required 10 million likes and 300 million views.

Official data showed that in 2025, Situ Town received 2.2 million tourist visits, double the year prior, generating a total revenue of 350 million yuan. Meanwhile, tourism-related jobs grew from 500 to more than 1,000, the latter accounting for roughly a third of the village’s labor force. 

Zhou noted, however, that the scenic spot has faced steep losses in recent years. “In 2023 we lost 500,000 yuan, in 2024 we lost 500,000 yuan, and in 2025 we lost money, but not much,” he said.

More than 7,000 people have applied for the NPC positions so far, with video interviews planned for over 50, Zhou said, adding that they have not yet set an application deadline. Zhou added that NPC salaries will range from 500,000 to 10 million yuan depending on the traffic they generate, the emotional value they bring to tourists, and tourists’ degree of satisfaction.

Recruiting NPCs is reportedly the scenic spot’s first step, with the goal of eventually cultivating its own homegrown talent. Its employees, Zhou said, are actually the biggest NPCs, but they need a good environment and role models to imitate — and those recruited with the 30 million yuan are meant to set an example.

Zeng Bowei, a professor at the Tourism College of Beijing Union University, told The Paper that the most important value of NPCs is transforming culture into something tourists can see and participate in.  

“Although NPCs have been called ‘non-playable characters,’ their true value to scenic areas is precisely making each tourist into a player,” Zeng said, adding that with the right roles, stories, and cultural backing, NPCs can increase traffic in the long term.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.